The Day Shift
by MrsLMB
Summary: Dr. Edward Cullen was hell-bent on making Bella Swan's life hard. And her job as a new RN at Forks Hospital, for that matter. She had no idea what she had done to deserve his wrath. And she's had just about enough of him. She was not going to sit back and allow him to treat her this way... All human. For mature eyes only. (ON HIATUS for now - sorry guys)
1. Chapter 1

**The Day Shift**

 **A/N: Please note that I'm not quite sure how big the difference is between the roles and responsibilities of RN's in South Africa vs. those of USA. And on any given day, we have at least three RN's present in any specific ward. The Unit Manager, or matron of a ward usually oversees bed bookings, staff allocations, shift schedules and handle compliments and complaints. None the less, I'm gonna wing it and write about what I know. So bare with me. Jacksonville General is a made-up hospital, keep in mind that this is fiction. You are more than welcome to ask questions if you are unsure, but here we go...**

 **Disclaimer:** Twilight and all it's recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Chapter 1: New**

It was raining none stop. Literally without end. And it had been ever since she arrived in Forks. What a dreary place. God! What had possessed her to move all the way form the ever sunny Florida to The Pacific Northwest? She'd been perfectly content with her nursing job at Jacksonville General. Except that the salary was better in Forks. Gasp! Yeah. Who would have guessed?

Bella sighed as she drove in through the pristine gates of Forks Hospital. It didn't look bad, but it was way smaller than what she was used to. A one floor Hospital with none of the impressive features of the big city Hospitals.

"Fuck!" Bella swerved out of the way, narrowly missing a tall man appearing from out of nowhere. It was raining so hard now that Bella could barely see through the windshield. But still, did the people of Forks not know to look left _and_ right before crossing the road, so to speak? He was still swinging his fists at her in anger when she looked up into the rear view mirror and clucked her tongue at the idiot in irritation. She couldn't see his face and she prayed to god that he wouldn't confront her. Not today.

Bella parked her truck in the only open spot she could find, yanked up the parking break and cut the engine. She leaned back against the cool leather seat and drew in a calming breath. "This day too shall pass." She muttered to herself.

She hated first days and tailing people so she could get the hang of how things were done. She'd experienced it often enough in her life and never got used to it. Her mother and father had moved around a lot. For no particular reason. They just couldn't seem to settle in one place for longer than two years. And eventually Bella had given up making friends or dating. It wasn't worth the heart break anymore. She'd resigned herself to a life of new beginnings and when they finally settled in in Florida, passing the 2 year limit, she'd finally realized that her parents had found whatever it was they were looking for. Things were finally starting to look up and she'd even made some good friends and joined the debate team. And she was happy... Until the day two police officers showed up on the doorstep of their house one night while her parents were out on a date night, to inform her that they'd been in a head-on collision with a Freightliner and didn't survive the crash. At the tender age of eighteen she had lost both her parents. She was fresh out of high school and had been accepted to Maryland with a scholarship. So with determination, Bella dived into her studies that started just after the summer, focusing all her energy into making a success of becoming a nurse. After she had graduated, she moved back to Florida and continued working there until now. And at twenty-six years of age, she had finally decided that she needed a change, though she had imagined herself in Texas, L.A. or Phoenix. Not Forks. But when she unexpectedly got the job, she decided to go for it. _Carpe Diem_ and all that bullshit.

Mustering up all of her courage, she pulled herself upright, checked her make-up in the rear view mirror and stroked an idle hand over her ebony tresses that were starting to frizz, thanks to the constant wet climate of this dull town. What did her appearance matter anyway? The rain would surely wash off the only bit of make-up she'd reluctantly applied this morning in an attempt to brighten her pale skin. Mascara and eyeliner. Not that it helped in any way. It just made her large brown eyes stand out even more against her translucent skin. Ugh!

Trudging through the rain with her head down, she tried her best to give the puddles of rain a wide berth. The last thing she needed was to start the day with wet socks and wake up tomorrow morning with a cold. Tackling a new town and a new job head on required her to be alert and efficient, something a cold would not allow.

Her shoes squeaked loudly on the vinyl floors as she headed down to the Medical ward. It was the type of ward that always seemed to be stacked from wall to wall with the sick and elderly. Patients with diabetes, hypertension, strokes, pneumonia, heart failure, you name it.

A large red and white sign hanging from above large double doors, with cream paint peeling spot-spot, informed her that she was headed for the right place, but even if there were no sign, all she'd needed to do was take a whiff. Jesus. It smelled exactly like the medical ward at Jacksonville - soap, crap and old people. It hit her square in the face when she pushed open the double doors and made her way past the occupied rooms toward the nurses station.

It was quiet and there were only two others behind the desk, clip boards in hand, writing down the bed list for the day: Surname, Gender, Bed number and diagnosis. It was the same in every hospital.

"Hi." Bella greeted the two women at the desk. "I'm Bella Swan. The new RN."

Two sets of eyes lifted from their task to meet Bella's own brown eyes.

A pair of blue eyes (the bluest she'd ever seen) belonged to a gorgeous blonde with fair and flawless skin. Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled at Bella in greeting and stuck out her hand. "Welcome. I'm Rosalie Hale."

"Nice to meet you, Rosalie." Bella shook the hand that was offered to her.

The other set of eyes, a mint green, twinkled with excitement in a small face, framed with a jet black halo of spiky hair. Just a light smattering of delicate freckles was dusted over the pixie-like girl's even more delicate nose. "I'm Alice Brandon." She pulled Bella in for a hug, squeezing almost all the air out of Bella's lungs. She sure was strong for such a tiny little thing and apparently Alice didn't bother with formal greetings like Rosalie did. She released Bella and cocked her head to the side. "I just know we are going to be great friends."

Bella nodded and smiled back, not sure exactly how to respond to the bubbliness that was Alice Brandon. But just maybe they would in fact become good friends. _Great friends_ even. She sure needed friends here. In this small town with it's ever-overcast days. She couldn't, for the life of her, imagine where one would go to meet new people and make friends. She bet most of these people knew each other from school and remained friends throughout their life. So she would take what she could get, since a potential friendship was offered to her so easily.

"If you stick with us, we'll show you the ropes. There really isn't much to it and by the end of the day I'm pretty sure you'll have the hang of things." Rosalie assured Bella.

"Good." She grinned. "I hate first days."

The girls offered her a sympathetic smile each and a nod of the head.

Handover was nothing unusual. Same as any other hospital. The day staff went from room to room and, in a quick overview, one of the night shift RN's informed them of who the patients were, and what their diagnosis was.

"So we have three doctors. All extremely gorgeous." Alice informed Bella. "There is Dr. Cullen Senior: Sweat heart and heartthrob. Dr. Call is a toffee-skinned god and an all-around nice guy." And then Alice sighed and rolled her eyes. "And last but not least, there is Dr. Cullen Junior. Edward Cullen."

"What, no dreamy description?" Bella wondered.

"You'll soon meet him and then you can decide for yourself." Rosalie chipped in. "We always start with medicine rounds in the morning." She changed the subject. "We split the ward up in three between us. We each take responsibility for nine beds. Hand out the eight o'clock meds, check that all the IV's are patent and IV bags are full. If the doctors come, we hand over the meds to the nurses. As RN's, the doctors are our first priority and they expect as much. After that there's usually patients to discharge and new ones to admit. Then we have two o'clock meds and at six o'clock there's another short meds round. We take the rest as it comes. Entries are made with the meds rounds. We write about what exactly we gave our patients, what their current level of pain is, if the IV is still up and running and at what rate." Rosalie informed. "Feeding and bed baths are done by the assistant nurses and they write down their own findings. And of course we each hand over our own part of the ward to the night staff."

Medicine rounds went off without a hitch and Bella and her new friends finished before the doctors arrived for rounds. Which meant they were lucky enough to sit down and have tea time. According to Alice, this happened more often than not here in the medical ward, but they too had their rough days.

Bella wasn't used to the slow pace of this small hospital. She was used to working non-stop right from handover straight through to the end of shift without so much as a sip of water. Or a pee break. She sipped on her coffee and relaxed back into her chair, savoring the peace and quiet.

"Morning, girls." An insanely tall, russet-skinned man with dark, short cropped hair peeked into the tea room. "Mind if I steal you away for a few minutes?"

Oh my god! This was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on. His hazel eyes and dazzling white smile made her knees weak and she mentally fanned herself. His eyes darted to her and he fixed her with a lopsided grin. "Hi." He greeted, stepping into the tea room with an outstretched hand. "I'm Embry Call."

Bella turned and set her coffee mug down on the small, rickety table next to her and took his hand, enjoying the feel of his soft touch. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Call. "I'm Bella Swan."

"Welcome, Bella. I hope you're gonna like it here."

Bella wanted to roll her eyes or scoff. How could she like a place where it rained most days of the year? But instead she smiled and nodded. "I'm sure I will."

"So, shall we get to it?" He asked.

Rounds were also nothing new, although she could already see from the interaction between Rosalie, Alice and Dr. Call, that he had certain preferences and expectations. Dr. Call was quick and to the point but had a gentle manner with which he treated his patients and the nursing staff. Bella liked that. Dr. Call's newly admitted patients were all sent through a routine of drawing baseline bloods, which included U's and E's, a crp and a full blood count. In layman's terms, they checked the kidney functions and screened for any signs of infection. If the patient came in with a possible pneumonia, he wanted a chest x-ray done without asking for it. He expected Rosalie or Alice to hand him a x-ray request form which he simply signed, leaving the rest of the details to be filled in by one of them. Easy enough. She could remember that.

Dr. Cullen Senior (gorgeous blonde with a gentle smile) was much the same, though he was kind enough to fill in the x-ray requests himself. He was sweet and had an incredible bedside manner and it wasn't hard to see why his patients loved him so much. He took his time and by no means rushed through rounds. And that's how Bella found herself 'lucky' enough to assist Dr. Cullen Junior with _his_ rounds.

She'd hurried off in the middle of rounds to fetch Dr. Cullen Senior a pair of gloves when she walked smack bang into a tall man with unruly copper hair. And immediately she retracted her earlier assessment of Dr. Call. He was now the second most gorgeous man she'd ever laid eyes on, with Dr. Cullen Junior knocking him down to take first place for himself. What was it with all these handsome men? Was there something in the water here in Forks?

Dr. Junior, as she now referred to him (in an attempt to make it easier for herself) was lean, but quite muscular. It was evident even under the grey shirt and charcoal tie that he wore so well. His shirt was rolled up over two strong forearms and his large hands bore no sign of a wedding ring. His copper hair had a hint of brown in them and his green eyes - my god! - those eyes were the greenest of green with rings of sea blue around the outer edge of his irises.

"Are you just going to stand there all day, or can we get to work?" He interrupted her embarrassing and obvious ogling.

"Yes, Doctor. Let me just get-"

"It's either yes or no. Nothing in between." He interrupted her.

Bella arched her brows in unpleasant surprise and nodded. "Yes, Doctor."

But god, she should have called in for reinforcements for this round. If she only knew before hand what a disaster it would be to assist him. But as they say: Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

As beautiful as this man was, he was harsh, curt and unpleasant to say the least. Bella was so flustered and anxious that she totally forgot the clipboard with her notes, not to mention the file with all his patients' latest blood results.

When she told him she was just going to fetch it, he gave her a cowering, tight-lipped glare that threatened to burn her nervous frame to the ground right on the spot. Fuck. This day was quickly going to shit.

She hurried to the nurses station, studiously ignoring a relative of one of her patients that tried to get her attention for an inquiry, and scooped up the file on the other side of the desk.

"Hey!" Rosalie stopped her on her way back to Dr. Junior, with a frown. "Where did you disappear to? You were just supposed to get the gloves."

Bella jerked her head toward the end of the passage. "Dr. Cullen Junior." She explained.

"Oh god." Rosalie's eyes widened. "I'll be with you in five minutes. Promise." Clearly she knew Dr. Junior well.

"If I'm still alive by then..." Bella said over her shoulder as she scuttled off toward impending doom that awaited her with fierce green eyes and fiery copper hair, tapping his fingers impatiently on the over bed trolley of bed number three, occupied by Mr. Thompson.

"Here are the results, Doctor." Bella panted and tripped over her own feet in her haste to hand him the file, stumbling gracelessly toward the impatient doctor.

"Took you long enough." He held out his hand to her for the results without looking at her.

Bella thrust the file into his open hand.

He looked at the blue file that he now held and then flicked his stern eyes up at her, a frown puckering his brows. "What is this?"

"The blood results, Doctor." She said and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at him. Wasn't it obvious?

"If I wanted to see every single one of my patients' results all at once, I would have said so." He practically growled at her, pinched the bridge of his nose for just a second and then flung the file through the air, papers flying in every direction, before said file clattered loudly to the floor.

He gritted his teeth and stalked toward her. "I asked for Mr. Thompson's results." He ground out. "Not the whole goddamn Pacific Northwest's results."

"Yes, Doctor." Bella scrambled toward the scattered papers on the floor, gathering it all together and scooped them into her arms while she tried to swallow back her tears. She refused to let this man see her cry. How the hell was she going to sort through them right now, with Dr. Impatient standing staring at her? Her hands shook and her vision blurred. She blinked back twice to keep herself from crying and paged hastily through the clusterfuck of papers in her unsteady hands.

Luck was somewhat in her favor, because three of the four pages of results for Mr. Thompson was right on top and the other was just a few pages under.

She thrust the results toward him, avoiding his eyes. What an asshole.

The rest of the round went surprisingly well. No files or tantrums were thrown and Rosalie and Alice had joined her right after they'd finished with Dr. Cullen Senior.

* * *

"Doesn't seem like Dr. Cullen likes you very much. What did you say to him to make him so hostile toward you?" Alice asked later that evening as the three of them sat together in the diner, eating a burger and drinking coffee. Alice and Rosalie had suggested they go out for dinner to get to know each other better.

"Isn't he always like that?" Bella frowned and took a big bite of her cheese burger, chewing thoughtfully.

"No. Never _that_ bad. Sure, he has his moods. But today's tantrum was definitely a first." Rosalie explained.

Bella swallowed her food. "I don't get it, then. I swear I didn't say anything to him that could warrant such a hate."

"Maybe he just got out on the wrong side of the bed today. I wouldn't take it personally if I were you." The blonde suggested.

"I like the other two doctors, though. Weird how Dr. Cullen Senior differs so greatly from his son."

"Yeah and can you believe that Dr. Call and Dr. Junior are best friends?" Alice added.

"You're kidding, right?" Bella asked. "I sure as hell didn't picture them as besties."

"Quite the bromance. Apparently they've known each other since they were kids." Rosalie supplied, leaning forward.

"Okay." Bella sighed. "Enough talk of work. I want to know more about you guys."

"What do you want to know?" Alice asked with a full mouth, hiding it behind her hand as she spoke.

"Are either of you in relationships? Do you have brothers or sisters? What do you do for fun around here? You know, the usual stuff."

"We're both in steady relationships." Rosalie said while Alice still chewed. "Emmett and I have been together since High School." She smiled, eyes glazing over for a moment. "And Alice and Jasper have been dating since college. We all went to school together. And I'm an only child."

"I have an older brother who lives in London and a younger sister in Australia. I'm the only one who stuck around." Alice added after she'd finally managed to swallow the gargantuan bite of food she'd just taken."

"Why?" Bella arched her brows in disbelief.

"I know Forks seems like a shock to the system, but it grows on you. I promise." Alice smiled.

"As for fun," Rosalie chipped in with a grimace, "The Diner and the movies are about it. There is a club not too far away from here where we usually go if we feel like dancing or celebrating. And then there is La Push Beach. But it's rare that we actually go there. There aren't too many days that are warm enough for bikini's."

"What about you?" Alice enquired.

"I'm an only child, just like Rosalie. No boyfriend. I worked at Jacksonville General for a few years and then I finally decided I needed a change of scenery."

"Don't you miss your parents? Florida is so far away." Rosalie sipped on her coffee and pushed her plate away.

Bella looked down to the mug clutched tightly in both of her hands and sighed. "My parents died when I was eighteen."

"Oh my god, Bella. I'm so sorry." Rosalie slapped a hand over her mouth. "I didn't mean to pry."

Bella shook her head and lifted her gaze to the sympathetic blue eyes of the blonde sitting across from her. "Don't worry about it, Rose. It was a long time ago."

On the short drive back home (because let's face it, in this small town, everything was close together), Bella thought about what Rosalie had said. What had Bella done to set off Dr. Junior? She racked her brain for any clue as to what she might have said or done, but came up empty. He'd been rude and cold from the get go and he was now firmly on Bella's 'hate list', ranking firmly at number one. And she dreaded going to work tomorrow, knowing that he would be there. He sure was one miserable son-of-a-bitch and it boggled her mind that a man as beautiful as him could be such a dick.

What she did know though, was that she wasn't planning on keeping her mouth shut the next time he spoke to her like she was a piece of shit. She was going to stand up to him.

 **A/N: What did you think? Reviews are welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews. And thank you to those who've already favorited the story. You rock! I'll try not to disappoint you. For those who've read The Unexpected, this story is not as much of an instant gratification story where lemons are concerned. (Though there definitely will be lemons in later chapters) I'm slowly building up toward Edward and Bella's relationship. I just want to remind you that no matter what happens, this is a Bella/Edward story. So stick with me... Hope you enjoy the next chapter xxx**

 **P.S: Just to answer one of the guest reviewers, n** **urses in South Africa are divided into three kinds: RN's, Enrolled nurses and Assistant nurses. Enrolled nurses are allowed to hand out medication under supervision of the RN, assistant nurses aren't. And RN's are also nurses, but they have different responsibilities. And for those who don't like the story, stop reading...just don't leave nasty reviews. I'm a softy and though I am supposed to be able to handle negative criticism, it still hurts when you leave mean comments.**

 **Disclaimer:** Twilight and all it's recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Chapter 2: A night we won't remember**

Despite the new environment and the annoying and unpleasant Dr. Edward Cullen, Bella found herself excited to go to work the next morning. She'd made two awesome new friends on her first day and that in itself was a big achievement for her. It didn't rain today. Another reason to be excited for the day ahead. Thank god for small mercies.

It was a busy day at work. New admissions came streaming in during eight o'clock meds rounds and _all three_ doctors decided to do rounds just then. First to arrive was Dr. Cullen Senior and after him followed Dr. Call. And Bella really wanted to do rounds with him, but with her luck a patient decided to press the call button as she was making her way over to Embry. That was just fucking awesome. So that left one more doctor and take a wild guess who Bella got stuck with again? She squared her shoulders when Dr. Asshole came walking up toward her. Bella grabbed her bed list and bloods file - she was prepared for him today.

"Where is nurse Brandon?" He asked without having the decency of saying good morning.

"Good morning to you too, Doctor." Bella greeted with sweet sarcasm.

"I asked you a question." He shot back, looking annoyed as all hell.

"And _I_ think it's only good manners to greet first, don't you, Doctor?" She bit back through gritted teeth. He obviously got out on the wrong side of the bed _again._

"Morning, nurse Swan." He relented with a sigh.

Good. Finally some progress. "Bella's fine. No need to call me nurse Swan."

He arched a severe brow in response. "I'd like to keep things professional if you don't mind." He said. "Now, can you tell me where either nurse Brandon or nurse Hale are?"

"Busy with rounds. Dr. Call and Dr. Cullen just arrived minutes ago."

"Is there nobody else, then? I don't want to do rounds with you." He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked a brow in disdain.

"Well, Doctor, unless you want to wait for one of them to finish, you're stuck with me." She challenged.

Edward glared at her with without answering. Apparently he was really considering waiting for either Alice or Rosalie to finish. God this man was infuriating. So handsome, yet such an asshole. Why couldn't he be more like his father?

"Can I just be blunt and ask what I did to offend you, Doctor? Because you've been nothing but rude to me from the start."

"I think I'll come back later." He avoided answering her question and turned on his heel to leave.

"So you are going to let your patients lie here all day and wait for you, just because you don't like me? That's kind of selfish, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry?" He flung back around, cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

"Last time I checked, I was talking to you... _Doctor._ " She added the last bit with a tinge of sarcasm, not willing to back down.

"Tread carefully, nurse Swan. You are messing with the wrong person."

"Bella." She shot back.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before raking his fingers through his hair in apparent frustration. "I guess I have no other choice, do I? He relented. "Lead the way." He motioned with a hand for her to walk out ahead of him.

Yes! Finally she'd won the argument. And she'd shown him she wasn't going to let him walk all over her. "Anywhere in particular you want to start, Doctor?" She asked him, looking back over her shoulder.

"Room one is fine." He stated curtly, capturing her gaze with those inscrutable green eyes of his.

When Edward asked her for blood results today, she was ready for him every time. She had made sure to pull each patient's results as they continued on from bed to bed so he didn't have to wait. She knew now that he was a very impatient man. To her delight though, he seemed to have cooled down quite a bit. No impatient tapping of the foot, no nasty remarks and no sneering. And slowly she was starting to get an idea of who he was. He had a sharp mind and a surprisingly good bedside manner too, almost like his father(when he wasn't throwing temper tantrums).

Alice discreetly peeked into the room while Bella and Edward were just finishing up with their last patient. "You okay?" She mouthed at Bella.

Bella nodded at her with a victorious smile and turned back to Edward. He was staring at her with a questioning brow. "Sorry." She said and lowered her gaze. She could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile tug at the corners of his mouth, but when she looked back up at him, he was back to his indecipherable, steely self.

Bella suppressed a frustrated groan.

"I'll arrange for a colonoscopy with Dr. Hulme for this afternoon. Make sure Mrs. Martelli is prepped and ready to go. I'll call you with a time. And get her to sign the consent form.

"Yes, Doctor." Bella nodded. And that was it. She'd survived another round with Dr. Edward Cullen. Thank god! Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.

Edward picked up his bag and headed out of the room. Not a thank you or a goodbye was uttered. And then he turned around on his heel. Yes! He'd remembered his manners. He was coming back to say goodbye to her.

"Oh, nurse Swan? Start an IV on Mrs. Martelli. Ringer's Lactate at one twenty-five milliliters per hour." What the fuck? That was it? And no please either? Jesus, still as rude as ever, wasn't he?

By five o'clock things had finally calmed back down. All the new admissions were assessed and paper work done. They'd been sent for x-rays where necessary and all their bloods had been drawn. Two o'clock meds were done, rounds were recorded and IV's had been replaced. Seemed that today was one of those days where half the damn IV's weren't patent or had been yanked out by disoriented patients. And the phone kept ringing incessantly with family members calling to enquire about the new admits.

"Nurse Swan speaking. How can I help?" Bella answered with heavy irritation. She had literally just put the phone down before it rang yet again.

"Good. It's you." Came Edward's voice from the other end of the line. "Mrs. Martelli is scheduled to go in at six. Is she ready?"

"Yes, Doctor. She's good to go."

"Thank you." He said in a clipped tone and ended the call. It might not have been the nicest thank you she's ever gotten, but she counted it as a massive victory, none the less and almost wanted to do a happy dance.

"Alice and I are going to the club tonight to celebrate my birthday, tonight. Do you wanna come along?" Rosalie stopped Bella with a hand on her arm as she made her way to Mrs. Martelli to double check on everything.

"Oh my god!" Bella exclaimed. "Why didn't you mention anything?"

"It's not a big deal." She waved it away. "So are you in?"

"Sure." She smiled. "What time?" She'd need at least an hour to get ready after the shift ended.

"Nine. We'll pick you up on the way. Get ready for an epic night, Bella. We're off for the next two days and I'm gonna have me one hell of a time."

"Yeah, that works for me. I'm looking forward to it." She nodded once and the two of them went off on their own mission, Bella continuing on to Mrs. Martelli. It would be fun to go out tonight. Bella wondered if Jasper and Emmett were coming along. Probably. So she would be the only one without a date. Great.

* * *

The club was quite busy and there were no open tables anywhere.

"Maybe we should go get drinks and hang out by the pool table for a while?" Emmett suggested. "Keep ourselves busy. At least then we have a good view of the club. If a table opens up we can scoop it up before anyone else takes it."

"You ladies warm up the pool table for us. We'll get the first round of drinks." Jasper said, motioning for Emmett to follow.

Bella stared around at the club. It was surprisingly big. Off to the one side was the dance floor where a middle aged DJ with a bald head played songs from five years ago. A large disco ball hung from the high ceiling, scattering multicolored sparkles over the floor. Bella chuckled and shook her head. They were still a little behind on everything modern here in this small town.

The bar was a long, stretched out, original (by the looks of it) teak counter, with a color changing backdrop of lights that gave the various bottles of liquor on the glass shelves a mysterious and alluring glow.

"Tequila to start off with and daiquiri's for the ladies." Jasper announced as he and Emmett arrived with the drinks.

"Here's to Rosie." Emmett lifted a shot of tequila in the air. Everyone around the pool table followed suit. "May you have one hell of a twenty-fifth birthday, baby."

"To Rose!" A familiar smooth bass interrupted. It was Dr. Call. Embry Call.

"Hey, Doc." Alice greeted. "Didn't think we'd see you in a place like this."

He chuckled. A beautiful, boyish chuckle. All dimples and pearly white teeth. "I noticed you guys don't have a table." He said, eyes resting on Bella. "Why don't you bring your party over to our table?" He cocked his head toward a table at the back of the bar, in a corner. And _he_ was sitting there. The bane of her existence. Dr. Edward Cullen. Bella wanted to decline Embry's offer and opened her mouth to do just that when Rosalie's hulk of a boyfriend accepted the offer.

"Sure. That'd be awesome, man! Thanks." And they did that weird clap on the back, man hug thing.

"Look who I found." Embry told Edward as they all followed behind him to the table, drinks in hand. Edward was nursing a beer of his own and Bella was taken aback by how different he looked without a tie and a crisp button-down shirt. His casual clothes made him look...almost human. Nothing like the miserable man she had come to know at work these past two days.

Edward greeted all of them with a friendly smile. Until his eyes landed on _her_. All Bella got was an incline of the chin. He barely acknowledged her. She wanted to roll her eyes at his childishness. Seemed he hated her even outside of the workplace.

Embry distracted Bella with an arm on her shoulder and a charming smile. "How 'bout a dance, Bella?"

Bella's eyes traveled momentarily over Embry's shoulder to Edward. His eyes were narrowed as he watched them. Ugh! What was his fucking problem?

"I'd love to dance, Dr. Call." She tore her eyes away and smiled up at Embry, taking the hand he offered her.

"Embry. Please." He corrected her.

"Oh good. Already on a first name basis, are you?" Edward remarked sharply.

"Oh, don't be like that, man." Embry admonished his miserable best friend. "There really is no need to be so formal." And with that, he led Bella toward the dance floor with a large, warm hand on her back.

Embry pulled her close into him, placing one hand on her side and the other clutched her hand in his own. Bella found herself enjoying the feel of his muscled body against her. It's been a very long time since she's danced with a man. Especially one as attractive as him.

"So what brought you to Forks, Bella?" He whispered in her ear as he steered her expertly around the dance floor while a slower number played.

"Change of scenery, I guess."

"You guess?" He said and stared into her eyes, trying to read her. "Something tells me there is more to it than you let on."

"Maybe," She said and squealed as he dipped her unexpectedly to the floor and pulled her back up to him, "but now is not the time or place for heavy conversations."

"No." He shook his head thoughtfully and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, brushing his hand along her cheek in the process. "It definitely isn't. But what about a date?" He stared at her intently. "So I can get to know you better." He gave her that dimpled smile again, melting her heart.

"How can a girl say no to this face?" Bella teased.

"Beats me." He grinned. "So, it's a yes?"

Bella nodded, flashing him a grin of her own. "It's a yes."

Back at the table, everyone was laughing at a joke Emmett was telling with animated gestures.

"Here." Rosalie held out another tequila shot to her as she returned with Embry. "Drink up."

"You're gonna make me drunk." Bella scolded her, but took the shot anyway.

"Attagirl." Rosalie patted her on the back. "The whole point of tonight is to get a little drunk, my friend."

That was true. And Rosalie seemed to be enjoying her birthday very much. In fact, even Dr. _Sullen_ was loosening up a little, making idle conversation with her here and there.

The rounds kept coming and by the time it was Bella's turn to buy, Embry had to escort her, just to get her to walk in a straight line.

"I'm having _so_ much fun!" She hiccuped and smiled stupidly up at him.

"I can see that." He chuckled and steered her a little more to the right. "This way to the bar." He whispered in her ear, lips brushing against the shell. Oh my. And that's about the last thing she remembered.

* * *

Bella groaned and sat up in bed. Something had woken her up. She wasn't sure what. Her stomach protested with a heave and her head pounded mercilessly. Jesus. How much did she have to drink last night? She squinted up at her surroundings. Where was she? A doorbell rang. That was probably what had woken her up.

Bella carefully edged off the bed, clutching her head that felt like it was weighing a hundred pounds. Another two rings of the doorbell followed in short succession. She stumbled toward the door of the unknown bedroom and yanked it open.

"What the hell is going on?" Alice peeked from a door opposite her with a wild head of hair, smudged make-up and curious eyes.

Bella shrugged. "Where are we?"

Alice shook her head and cringed at the sudden movement. "I don't know."

Another ring of the doorbell.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Edward shouted as he passed them down the hall, pulling a shirt over his head. Oh my god! What a sight he was to behold with those taut abs and alluring 'v' disappearing into his shorts. He nodded at them in acknowledgement, but no good morning.

Bella padded down the hall in search of a bathroom. She didn't even want to know what she looked like.

"Oh great!" She mumbled at the reflection of a pale faced girl with wild hair staring back at her from the large mirror over the basin. And she'd thought Alice looked bad? No wonder Edward didn't greet her. He was probably too shocked by her appearance to even get a word out. She wondered if this was his place, since he was the one to answer the door? Bella splashed her face with some cold water and tore a piece of toilet paper from the roll, wiping at the smudged make-up in an attempt to make her look like a human being again. She combed through her tangled hair with her fingers and squeezed a large dollop of toothpaste onto her finger, scrubbing away the remnant taste of the tequila and daiquiri's from a numb tongue.

"There." She nodded at her reflection. "Much better." She now looked somewhat presentable, except for her red eyes.

She headed down a large stairwell, through a messy living room and to a kitchen that looked even worse. Empty bottles of schnapps and apple sours lined the marble counter top, with sticky shot glasses scattered every where.

"Sorry man." She heard Embry say as he followed Edward into the kitchen, clutching a large paper bag to his chest. "I forgot to take your house keys with me." His eyes traveled to Bella. "Morning." Embry greeted. He didn't look to bad, considering...

"What the hell happened last night?" She frowned.

"You don't remember?" Embry grinned.

"Honestly, the last thing I remembered was going to the bar with you to buy another round of drinks."

"Yeah. And then we all came back to Edward's house for the after-party." He explained, waving a hand over the empty bottles.

"What the fuck happened here?" A bleary-eyed Rosalie shuffled into the kitchen to join them, Emmett following close behind.

"Apparently we came back here to continue the party." Bella explained, gathering up as much of the empty bottles as she could manage and turned in search of a trash can to throw them away.

"Yeah. I remember that. But I don't recall us drinking all of this." Rosalie nodded toward the bottles in Bella's arms.

Edward grabbed Bella's arm with a gentle hand, stopping her. "You really don't have to clean up." His voice was low and his eyes blazed with an intensity that caught her totally off guard.

"I don't mind." She gave him a small smile. "After all, I'm pretty sure I contributed to this mess."

She was rewarded with a genuine smile from him and for some reason she found herself grinning back. Up until this point, she had been pretty sure Edward didn't know how to smile.

"Hey, aren't the two of you supposed to be at work already?" Bella spied the clock on the wall behind Edward. It was twenty past eight already.

"No, not yet. That's one of the perks of having your own practice. Embry and I almost always go out on Tuesdays. Bar night." He explained. "Wednesday appointments are always scheduled for the afternoon. No morning appointments."

"Oh. That's actually very convenient for you."

"Sure is." He nodded.

"So who wants breakfast?" Embry held up the bag of...well... What _did_ he have in the bag? Bella wanted to gag at the thought of food. She really didn't think she could stomach breakfast right now, but she didn't want to be rude either and screw up any chance she had with Embry, even before their first date.

The men all seemed to be enjoying their breakfast, digging in with gusto and devouring bagel for bagel and washing it down with coffee. Bella clutched her head, trying not to groan as it throbbed painfully. Her eyes felt scratchy and sensitive - like she'd been up all night. And to make matters worse, Edward was sitting next to her and kept accidentally grazing his elbow against her. Each brush against her made her skin tingle and made her super aware of his presence next to her. What the hell was wrong with her?

Embry and Edward walked them out to the door after they'd all finished breakfast. Rosalie was dead set on getting home to recover. And Bella herself wanted to crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head and not wake up again until Friday. There was a reason she wasn't a big drinker: She hated feeling like this. But before Bella could get in the car, Embry grabbed by the hand and pulled her in for a kiss. A deliciously slow and savoring kiss. And she wanted to kiss him back so bad, but she couldn't. She didn't want to kill him with her extra-potent morning breath. Could he not have waited until she was more awake and prepared to respond properly to their first kiss? When she pulled back, she caught the surprised (or was it shocked?) stare of Edward, before he hastily hid it behind a stony face. What now? He probably thought she wasn't good enough for his best friend.

 **A/N: What is Edward's problem and why is he so mean to Bella? Thank you for reading :) Reviews are welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So Embry and Bella are due for a date. How excited do you think Edward will be when he finds out? Thank you guys for reading. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Much love MrsLMB xxx**

 **Disclaimer:** Twilight and all it's recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Chapter 3: In the past**

"Hey, Bella?" Embry turned back to her on his way out of the ward, fixing her with eager hazel eyes that made her stomach do the strangest flip-flops and left her completely breathless.

She walked up to him, as did he and they met halfway. She wondered what he wanted? They'd covered all his patient, leaving nothing out. So this couldn't be work-related, could it? "Yeah?" She asked, anxious for his response.

"Can I take you on a date tomorrow night?" He smoothly cut to the chase with those devastating dimples and a roguish smile. Almost like he'd practiced the line over and over in his head before he spoke it.

Bella's face broke out in a grin. Though she should have, she didn't see it coming. And she had really hoped he would ask her out again. She wasn't going to push for a date - that's not who she was. "Yeah. Sure." She tried to sound casual despite squealing like a sixteen year old school girl in her mind. She bit her lip and tried to reign in her obvious delight. She didn't want to seem too eager and make him lose interest. Men liked a little _chase._

"Can I get your number then?" He moved a little closer into her and handed her his phone. She slid her finger over the screen - a photo of him and his dog appearing as the background - and punched the contact icon.

"So I'll just put it under Bella?" She asked. Maybe she wasn't the only Bella he knew.

"Yeah." That'll work. He grinned like she'd asked the dumbest question. She wasn't going to explain what she'd meant by her question.

She typed in her name and number, hit save and handed the phone back to him. "There."

"Hard at work I see." Edward drawled behind them and made Bella jump. Jesus, he sure had the worst timing in the world, always seeming to pop up whenever she was with Embry. She wished she could shoo this arrogant man and continue talking to Embry in private.

She opened her mouth to answer Edward, but closed it again and looked to Embry for help. She didn't know what to say to defend herself.

"I was just getting her number so we can set a time for our date tomorrow." Embry came to her rescue. "But I'm leaving now. Don't be so...grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy." Edward retorted, looking irritated at his friend and not so much at her. That was a pleasant change. "I'm busy."Unlike you." Why was Edward so openly hostile toward his best friend?

"I'll leave you to it, then." Embry said and gave Edward a clap on the shoulder as a goodbye. "See you later, man. We are still on for the game tonight, aren't we?"

"Yeah." He nodded with a lopsided grin, lightening up a little.

"Bye, Bella. Thanks for the quick and painless round." Embry said to her, giving her a wink before walking off. Bella's eyes followed him out the door. Edward could seriously take notes from Embry where thank you's and goodbye's were concerned. How in god's name did those two become best friends when they were nothing alike? Or maybe Edward just hid it well?

When she looked up, he was scrutinizing her with those blazing green eyes of his, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.

"Oh god." Bella groaned and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at Edward. "I thought we were past the impatient days and the foot tapping?" Bella commented to make light of the fact that she had completely spaced out, thinking about Embry and him.

Edward kept his intimidating stance, but added a cocked brow to the mix. He was waiting for her to get on with rounds.

Bella held up her hands in defense. "Okay, okay. We're going. Just let me get the folder and my list." She tried to placate him.

"Well _hurry_ , then _._ " He commanded with widened eyes. "I don't have all day."

* * *

Embry and Dr. Cullen Senior were off duty this weekend and Edward was on call. Which meant they were stuck with 'Dr. Sullen' as stand-in for today _and_ Sunday. Weren't they just the luckiest! Alice, Bella and Rosalie made a collective effort (strength in numbers) to do rounds with him for which Bella was glad. It meant he couldn't concentrate all his focus on her. All of his ire. It would look too suspicious, even for him. So together, their trio task force entered into the war zone, ready for battle.

Much too Bella's delight, Edward was straight to the point and didn't look her way once as they did their rounds together. When he needed something, he asked Rosalie or Alice - either ignoring Bella or pretending she wasn't there (she didn't know which was which but it didn't really matter either) - and discharged a large amount of patients. Some were his own, others were of Dr. Cullen Senior and Dr. Call - they'd left him specific instructions as to where they were heading with regards to each patient - and by the end of the round there weren't very many patients left.

"Oh god!" Bella groaned loudly during lunch time. "Can this day get any more boring?" She opened her locker and grabbed a book, ready to read. There was no way she would survive this day without something to keep her mind busy. She was simply too anxious for the date.

"What are you going to wear tonight?" Alice asked, taking a large bite of her egg salad sandwich and distracting Bella from the tediousness of the day. Embry had texted her early morning with a time he would pick her up. Eight o' clock, to be exact and that didn't leave her with much time to get ready after work.

"I'm not sure. He didn't say where we were going, so I have no idea if I should go with casual or smart."

"Well, then I suggest you go with smart casual. There aren't many places he can take you to for dinner in this town, unless he's planning on taking you to Port Angeles. I doubt it though. He knows you're working and that you can't go to bed at an ungodly hour. "

"Will you guys come over and help me with my hair and make-up. Help me pick out an outfit? If I have to get ready on my own, I might keep him waiting the whole night."

Alice clapped her hands together in glee. This was, after all, her specialty. "I'd love to, Bella!"

" _We_ would love to." Rose corrected. "I'll do your hair."

* * *

Embry picked her up at eight sharp and despite rallying to get ready - even with Alice and Rosalie's help - she had cut it really close. Her friends had barely left five minutes ago before there was a knock on her door.

Bella teetered excitedly but very carefully to the front door on the five inch heels Rosalie had insisted on, grabbing her purse and house keys on the way, checked herself briefly in the large hallway mirror and opened the door to reveal a very handsome-looking Embry. His dark brown hair was still wet from what she assumed was a recent shower and his toffee skin contrasted so beautifully against his white golf t-shirt.

"Hi." She smiled up at him.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." His eyes raked shamelessly over her body, making her mouth dry.

"Thanks." She wasn't very good with compliments. "You don't look too bad yourself, Dr. Call." She tried to shift the attention to him.

"Ready to go?" He asked, jerking his head toward the car and held out his hand to her.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Let's go."

"So where are you taking me?" Bella wondered during the drive. Embry's hand kept grazing up against her leg as he shifted gears and Bella really didn't know what to make of it, so she scooted away ever so slightly, just enough so he couldn't touch her and not far enough away so he would notice. She liked Embry. He was kind and sweet and so very gorgeous - all the things you look for in a potential boyfriend - but she was missing the butterflies that she knew was part and parcel of first dates with someone you really wanted to pursue a relationship with. Did she want a relationship with him? There was no reason _not_ to want that. But things between them (or more accurately, from her side) lacked that chemistry. She wasn't very experienced with relationships and having never had sex before, she supposed she was a little more careful and guarded than other girls would be.

"This new bistro that opened up about two months ago just as you enter Forks." He answered her question and looked over at her. "It's usually very full, but totally worth it. I was a little forward in making a reservation even before I asked you to go out with me, yesterday."

"And what if I had said no?" She challenged playfully.

"Then I would have begged. On my knees." He laughed, immediately making her feel more at ease with his humor. "And if that hadn't worked, I would have gone by myself. The food is really _that_ great."

"So tell me more about yourself, Bella Swan. What's your story?" Embry asked as their drinks arrived.

"Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked, taking out his pen and a note pad.

"Yeah?" Embry looked at her. "I think so." Bella nodded her head in agreement. She was starving. "What are you going to have?" He asked.

"I'll have the Alfredo." She told the waiter and watched him scribble down her order.

"And the lazy-aged steak for me." The waiter nodded and proceeded to ask him how he wanted his steak done.

"Medium, thanks." He dismissed the man and focused his attention back on Bella.

"So? Tell me." He encouraged.

Bella rolled her eyes, spotlight once again on her. "I don't want to bore you to death. I'm sure my life is very much dull in comparison to yours."

"Humor me." He pressed on.

"Well, I lived all over the US during my younger years. My parents moved so much that I never really made any good friends. And then, _finally_ , we settled in Jacksonville when I was fifteen. My parents' restless spirits seemed more at ease in Florida, I guess. And after their death I studied nursing at Maryland." She told him. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm not done with you. Good try changing the focus to me, though." He gave her a knowing look.

Bella sighed dramatically but smiled. "Fine. What else did you want to know?"

"Well, not to be insensitive, but how did your parents die?"

"Car crash." She stated simply.

"You really don't want to talk about it, do you?" He was obviously good at reading her and she was grateful for that.

She just shook her head. Bringing up her parents was painful enough. She didn't want to go into detail when she'd spent so much time trying to suppress these haunting memories.

"Okay. Makes sense." He nodded sympathetically. "So any brothers or sisters?"

"No. I'm an only child."

"Any serious relationships in the past?" He wondered. "I'm assuming you're single." It was a statement, not a question.

"Nothing serious. And I'm definitely not in relationship, or I wouldn't be sitting here with you tonight."

"But you seem like such an amazing woman. Why not?" Boy, he really did want to know everything about her, didn't he? She wasn't used to people asking all these personal questions.

"I guess I didn't really have time for anything serious. Or maybe I just didn't _want_ to be in a serious relationship. I was more focused on my work." She had tried to shy away from relationships in the past, having gone through enough emotional turbulence when she lost her parents. "What about you?" She once again tried to shift the focus onto Embry. It worked this time.

"Well, I get the whole being busy thing. Believe me. And yeah. There was one serious relationship. We were on and off for about six years until we ended it last summer."

"What happened?" If Embry was allowed to ask personal questions, so was she. But he didn't look too fazed by her curiosity.

"I wanted to settle down and she didn't, I guess. She still wanted to travel the world. Get another degree and I was ready to get married and start a family. So in the end it was a mutual decision to break up." He lifted his glass to his lips, took a calculated sip of his drink and gave her his best lopsided smirk. Bella got the idea that he might not have been as pleased with the idea of breaking up as he let on. "As for brothers and sisters," He continued. "I have a younger brother and sister and an older brother. My sister is married and so is my older brother. Guess it's just my youngest brother and me who're the odd ones out. The bachelors."

"And your mom and dad? Are they still together?"

"Yeah, they are. And they're very happy, actually. When I look at the two of them, I see exactly what I want my marriage to be like one day. They're really amazing parents. Fantastic role models and they are supportive beyond belief. If it weren't for them, I don't know where I'd be today."

"So, tell me something?" Bella trailed her finger over the condensation beading against her icy wine glass. "What is Edward's deal with me?"

Embry laughed at her question, making her huff in frustration. She found nothing about Edward Cullen's attitude toward her funny.

"Well, it's a long story actually. But basically he was engaged and his fianceé cheated on him with one of his friends. Edward was really in love with her. He even built a house for them, according to her exact specifications, with the idea in mind that it would be the house where they would raise their children someday." Then Embry's eyes darkened. He took another drink of his whisky, licked his lips and continued. "He came home early one day and caught the two of them having sex. In his bed. In _their_ bed." Embry looked down at his hands for a moment, sighed and flicked his eyes back up to hers. "Apparently she wasn't as interested in him when she realized he was just a regular guy, like any other. The charm of being a doctor had worn off and she found excitement somewhere else. And it tore Edward to shreds. He couldn't get over it."

"So what does it have to do with me, then?" Bella wondered. It still didn't explain why he treated her the way he did. Why he hated her so much.

"Well, it's not so much you as it is women in general. Though I heard he was a real dick to you that first day. "

"But he's not like that with Rose and Alice." She corrected him. It was just her that he hated, apparently.

"It's because he knows them better, I guess. He trusts them. Just give it time, Bella. Eventually he'll start to get used to you too. He's just careful."

* * *

Embry stood really close to Bella now as he said his goodbyes, stroking a hand over her cheek. Her heart was beating a million miles an hour as his lips touched her's in a whisper. Not because she was excited about him kissing her, but for some unknown and quite disconcerting reason, she was wondering what it would feel like if those careful lips were Edward's and not Embry's. What the hell was wrong with her? Here this gorgeous man was, about to kiss her and she was thinking of Edward Cullen. Of all people. Why? But it made her body light up like a Christmas tree and she kissed him back with ardent lips, arms reaching over his shoulders and hands clutching desperately at the back of his neck. She panted into his mouth as a warm hand stroked over her breasts, making her nipples peak painfully in response. She gasped into his mouth and her body arched wantonly into him, before almost calling out his name. Almost. She'd caught herself just in time, because the name that had threatened to spill form her lips was not Embry's. It was Edward Cullen's. And she had no idea why.

Bella pushed Embry away and tried desperately to reign in her heavy breathing and her confused thoughts. That was so close. Too close! And when she looked into his heavy lidded, lust-darkened eyes, she wanted to kick herself. Why did she not feel even an ounce of the passion she did when she imagined him as Edward? Why couldn't she just be happy with Embry. She sighed. "Sorry. Maybe we should just take it slow." She explained.

Embry stroked his bottom lip with the pad of one of his thumbs, like he hadn't expected her to kiss him back so fiercely in the first place, and was pleasantly surprised by it. He shook his head and a satisfied grin broke out over his face. "No. Don't apologize. That was incredible." He took one of her hands in his and brought it up to his lips. "I can do slow." He promised. "I won't rush you into anything."

Bella leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for understanding. And thank you so much for tonight, Embry. I enjoyed it very much."

"Good night, Bella. Sleep well."

Bella watched him go. He was a genuinely good guy with good heart. And he wanted her. She should want him back, shouldn't she? Or maybe the butterflies and the giddiness of a new boyfriend would come later. Maybe she was broken? Not broken in the sense of being hurt one too many times but broken like a toy. Or like she had parts that were missing that prevented her from functioning like a normal person.

* * *

Bella swallowed dryly as she watched Edward talk to his patient. Explain to him why he had diabetes even if he didn't "eat that much candy". She watched his strong jaw and full lips as they moved. She couldn't hear a thing he was saying. She was too entranced by his handsome face and she had no idea why. She felt lost, disconcerted and...and...attracted to him? No. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She wasn't attracted to him. She didn't even like him. He was rude and egotistical and arrogant and so handsome. What? No! He was _rude_. But she'd already listed rude in her mind and searched desperately of another word to describe him. Asshole? Yeah. He was an asshole. Big time.

"Bella!" Edward hissed and waved a hand in front of her face. "We're done here."

"Right." Bella nodded her head, forcing herself back to the present. "Yeah." How long had she been standing in a daze, day dreaming?

"You really need to get to bed earlier when you have to work the next day." Edward commented snidely as she followed behind him out of the room. "You were sleeping standing up. If you and Embry want to keep each other awake and have sex until the early morning hours, at least make sure you're off the next day. It was like doing rounds with a zombie today."

Bella recoiled at his accusation. Was that what he thought of her? That she would jump into Embry's bed so readily? "We didn't have sex." She ground out in defense, feeling really offended. "For the record, I got to bed just shy of eleven. It wasn't that late. I just couldn't fall asleep."

"Awww." Edward said in a high pitched girly voice. "Dreaming of Embry?" He batted his eyelashes mockingly at her. "Get your shit together!" His face was serious now and his eyes narrowed with resentment.

They way he said it made him sound like a petulant and very jealous teenager. Her eyes widened in realization.

"Wait a minute!" She called out and hurried after him as he headed for the exit with massive strides. She caught up with him and grabbed his arm. Oh, god. That muscled arm. "Are you jealous?" She spoke the words before she'd even properly thought them through and cursed the fact that she'd momentarily lost the connection between her brain and her mouth. As soon as the words spilled over her lips, she slapped a horrified hand over her mouth.

"What?" He yanked his arm out of her grip like her touch burned him right through his shirt and he fixed her with a cowering glare. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Sorry!" She apologized hastily and shook her head at herself in disbelief. All she could do now was turn around and walk away to hide her bright red cheeks that burned with embarrassment and mortification. What the fuck was wrong with her today? How could she ask him something like that? 'Was he jealous?' She groaned and rolled her eyes. Obviously not - it was so evident in his eyes that he loathed her. How could she get those two emotions mixed up so completely?

 **A/N: Any ideas as to what is going on with Edward? And Bella for that matter... Give me your thoughts. I love to hear what you guys think. And some of you have fantastic imaginations...it's incredible to hear what ideas you come up with.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Can I just bow down to my beta for her amazing advice and mad skills! Thank you so much! EdwardsFirstKiss is a rock star! Handing my stuff over to her for fierce inspection was without a doubt painless and enlightening. So here we go...finally a little drama.**

 **Chapter 4: A bad day**

"Jesus Christ, Bella." She groaned to herself as she entered her house later that night, heading straight for the fridge and pulling out a full bottle of red wine to drown her mortification. "What have you done?"

How could she have said those things to Edward? _"Are you jealous?"_ My god. What has gotten into her? How could she for one moment think that he would be jealous of her and Embry?

Worst of all, things could end really badly for her after today. Maybe when she goes back after her two days off, she might not even have a job anymore. He could report her. Edward probably _will_ report her for her unprofessional behavior. Why couldn't she have just kept her stupid mouth shut? And even if she does still have a job on Wednesday, how will she ever be able to look Edward in the eyes again? Maybe she could just avoid all eye contact from here on out?

But something in his expression this morning haunted her. He'd looked so...lost. Even through all the anger. Maybe she had misread him? He was so stony and hard to read most days, anyway.

She grabbed a wine glass from the cupboard above her head and went in search of the corkscrew. She needed alcohol A.S.A.P so she could forget what an idiot she was.

Wednesday had been a horrible day. Period. There was no other way to describe it.

Flashback

 _Bella had fled to the staff toilet when she had seen Edward walking onto the floor, in search of someone to do rounds with. She knew that she wasn't ready to face him yet, after her spectacularly brainless display on Sunday. She had done her part by performing rounds with Dr. Cullen Senior earlier that morning and felt confident in leaving him with either Rosalie or Alice. She felt totally entitled to sit this one out._

 _She closed the door softly, trying not to attract too much attention to herself, turned the lock, pressed her ear against the cool wood door and listened as Rosalie offered to do rounds with him while her heart beat loudly in her ears. Yes! Thank you, god! She was home-free, having successfully managed to avoid him._

 _As soon as she heard their footsteps fade down the hall, she carefully opened the door, peeking around just to be sure the coast was clear and headed back to her medicine cart with shoulders squared, pretending like she hadn't just behaved like a child._

 _Alice caught sight of her from behind the nurse's station as she passed by on her way to the medicine cart, raising a questioning brow at her. "Really?" Alice had just caught her red-handed._

 _"Oh, come on." Bella had whined, rolled her eyes and walked up to Alice, leaning over the counter and fixing her friend with her best version of a Disney woodland creature: Big, sad eyes and a pout. "I just don't have the stomach for him today. I get stuck with him way more than you guys do." She explained._

 _Alice gave her a knowing smile before narrowing her eyes at Bella. "I'm missing something. I don't know what it is yet, Bella. But I'll find out soon enough." She vowed, grinning. As an afterthought she added. "I always find out."_

 _"Don't." Bella scowled and pointed a warning finger at her. "Believe me, you don't want to know." She shook her head. "It was a foot-in-mouth thing and even I'm not exactly sure what's going on."_

 _Bella had excused herself back to take care of her last remaining patient who had been admitted with renal failure. She still had to hand out his meds, which was a daunting task in and of itself - because he was on a 'bucket' full of medication. It didn't seem to make sense: the more medication he took, the more it affected his kidneys._

 _One by one she went through the prescription, popping out pills from crinkling blister packets in all shapes, sizes and colors, while thinking about how glad she was to have successfully avoided Edward._

 _"Just give this to him to drink. Hopefully it will be the final blow to his kidneys. And then we're set for life." Bella heard a rushed whisper from inside the room and peeked in to see the patient's wife sprinkle a pink powder into a small glass of water and stir it gently with a spoon._

 _Bella gasped in shock as she put two and two together! They were poisoning him. And he was too weak to do or say anything._

 _And like it had happened in slow motion, the pill cup dropped from her shaking hand and onto the vinyl floor, plastic cup bouncing like rubber on asphalt, sending dozens of tablets scattering across the floor. Everywhere._

 _Two sets of horrified eyes met hers as she looked up, aware of the noise she'd made._

 _Bella had averted her eyes and dropped to her knees on the floor, scrambling to pick up all the tablets, her heart pounding against her chest while her mind reeled. Did she hear them correctly? Or was she just losing her mind? (The latter was an option that she couldn't quite dismiss as easily as she would have liked.)_

 _Bella had tried to shake it off as her imagination playing tricks on her and dumped the pills in the trash, hastily popping out new ones to give to the patient. She kept knocking over the pill cup in her haste (with her hands shaking dangerously) and chided herself mentally. She stopped for a second, screwed her eyes shut and pulled in a calming breath through her nose. She was grateful that she was obscured from direct view of the room and it's occupants as she tried to find her bearings._

 _With her back straightened and her best poker face in place, she scooped up the pill cup and headed into the room, trying hard not to look the wife and...son, maybe? In the eye._

 _"Here's -" Bella's voice came out grainy and dry. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Here are his tablets." Bella told the wife and noticed the younger man getting up, sliding past her toward the door. Maybe he was heading out to avoid an uncomfortable situation. "Do you want to give it to him yourself, Ma'am? Or should I?"_

 _The woman's frosty blue eyes captured hers and sent a chill down her spine. Bella repressed the shiver that threatened to race through her body and swallowed audibly. "It's fine. I'll give it to him." Mr. Brown's wife said, eyes looking over Bella's shoulder from where she was seated in a visitor's chair._

 _Bella turned just in time to catch the son closing the door and turn around. He stalked slowly toward her with menacing eyes and tight lips. Bella backed up as he continued toward her, until she backed up into the chair the woman was sitting in, painfully digging into her upper thigh. She was trapped now, and he was standing flush against her, pointing an invasive finger in her face._

 _"Utter one word of what you just heard to anyone. ANYONE! And I will hunt you down. I swear to god I will slit your fucking throat if I find out that you couldn't keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut." He tugged roughly on her bottom lip with a thumb and forefinger before his hand slipped down to her neck and grasped her throat, fingers digging into her flesh and squeezing hard to emphasize his point. "Do you understand me?" His eyes flicked down to her name tag. "Nurse Swan." His lips curled into a nauseating sneer._

 _She nodded, biting her trembling bottom lip between her teeth. He was threatening her and if she reported them, he would come after her._

 _"I said, do you understand me?" He growled sharply in her ear, making her jump._

 _"Yes." She croaked, cursing the tears that were now running down her cheeks._

 _He released her neck so forcefully that she almost tipped over the chair, grabbing at air in an attempt to steady herself._

 _"Go!" He hissed. "Get the fuck out!"_

 _Bella scurried out of the room as fast as her feet would carry her, yanking the door open and running down the hall toward...anywhere she could hide and regain control of her shaking body and free flowing tears._

 _Bella tried blinking back her blinding tears and in her haste she collided full-force with Edward, careening to the side but continuing on with one goal in her mind - the supply room._

 _"Nurse Swan!" Edward called after her in shock. Or anger? She didn't know which and she couldn't seem to care either as she stumbled into the supply room and shut the door firmly behind her. She settled herself on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and circling her arms around it. She was going to be an accomplice to murder if she didn't say anything. But it was either murder or be murdered. What choice did she have?_

 _"Nurse Swan?" A familiar voice called as the door opened slowly. Edward's head peaked in past the door, eyes wide, searching for her and finding her on the floor._

 _She had looked away, swiping at her cheeks to hide her tears from him._

 _He had entered carefully and shut the door, stopping in front of her, his tall frame towering over her. "Are you okay?"_

 _"I'm fine." She lied through clenched teeth. He was the last person she wanted to deal with right now. "Just leave." She kept her eyes carefully trained on the bottom shelf that housed multiple types of bandages._

 _He ignored her and crouched down in front of her, a warm hand wrapping around her forearm, just below her elbow and pulled her up to him and into his arms. And this unexpected gesture of his, kind and gentle, brought on a fresh round of sobs as he enveloped her in the warmth of his strong body._

 _Edward had pulled her away from him and demanded she look at him with a forefinger tipping her chin up. Wide, concerned emerald eyes locked with hers as he assessed her. "My god, Bella. You're shaking." He pulled her back into his comforting embrace. "What happened?" He whispered against her hair._

 _She had shaken her head that she'd buried against his shoulder, not daring to reveal the truth as Mr. Brown's son's words repeated over and over in her head like a broken record. "I will slit your fucking throat."_

 _"Tell me." He pressed and stroked his hand soothingly over her back._

 _"I can't." She stated. "If Edward knew, he would want to alert the authorities or at least security and that was a risk she couldn't take. A sudden idea hit her. A way in which she could subtly alert Edward of what was going on with his patient. She pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes. "But can I ask if there's any way you would consider drawing extra blood work on Mr. Brown? You know, your patient with renal failure." She reminded him._

 _"I know who Mr. Brown is, Bella." He chided. "Why, though? Why do you think I need to order more blood work?"_

 _"I can't tell you." She insisted, looking down. She should have known that he would have questions. Wouldn't she too - if she were in the same position?_

 _Edward gave an exasperated sigh, lips pulling into a hard line as he assessed her for a moment. "You don't know." He said finally, "But you expect me to simply draw blood work for no good reason?"_

 _"There is a good reason." She stated vehemently, grabbing his shoulders desperately. "Please, I'm begging you. Just trust me on this." She pleaded with him._

 _Edward raked a frustrated hand through his unruly copper hair and shook his head. "This isn't about trust, Bella. It's about how I'm supposed to explain to Mrs. Brown why I did a random fucking bunch of blood tests when the medical bill arrives. I'm sorry, but I can't."_

 _"Okay." Bella nodded in disappointment and stepped back. "It's fine. I shouldn't have asked, anyway." She brushed past him and headed for the door. She should have known he wouldn't help her. Why would he? He didn't even like her._

 _"Bella." He had sighed dejectedly and grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving. His touch scorched her skin, sending her heart racing. Why did this man have such an effect on her? Just one touch made her long to wriggle her way back into his arms and stay there until everything disappeared, but them._

 _"What?" She bit out, choosing instead to go on the defensive._

 _"Just take my number. Call me if you decide you want to talk." He pulled his pen from his pocket, clicked it and grabbed her hand, scribbling his number on her palm._

 _"Okay." She had nodded and headed out, leaving a confused Edward standing in the supply room, trying to make sense of what happened and trying to convince himself that he shouldn't draw the blood work like Bella asked him to._

 _..._

 _"So, I made reservations for us at the bistro again. It's eat all you can seafood night." Embry's warm, silky voice whispered in her ear as she wrote in her entries for six o'clock. His sudden appearance had made her jump. She had been so on edge after that morning, startling at even the smallest of noises._

 _"Embry!" Bella had gasped and turned around to face him, her hand clutching over her furiously beating heart._

 _"Hey." He had frowned, eyes scanning her face. "What's got you all jumpy?"_

 _She had shaken her head and looked around. "Nothing; I'm just having a bad day."_

 _"So, I was thinking we could go out on a date again tonight. Are you in? If you don't eat seafood you can always order something else."_

 _"I don't know, Embry." She grimaced. "I'm wiped out. Can we make it another time?"_

 _"Oh, come on Bella. I promise I won't keep you out for long. I'll have you back in bed by ten o'clock. Promise." He had tried on his most charming, dimpled smile to convince her. "You need to eat, don't you?"_

 _She did need to eat. He was right. But that didn't mean she had any appetite, what so ever. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget that today ever happened. She wasn't even sure she could deal with Embry's sunny personality tonight, while she was feeling so edgy. She would have to put on a happy face, for which she had no energy. But just maybe it would do her good to be around him tonight. He might just help her get out of her funk._

 _"Fine." She had smiled, despite herself. "Back by ten?"_

 _"Promise." He had kissed her cheek and winked. "See you at eight."_

End of flashback

"You did not!" Bella laughed and scooped another piece of calamari from her plate, popping it into her mouth. She was already feeling more like herself, just listening to Embry tell her stories about his college days.

"Of course we did." He continued. "Whenever we had a hangover, we took turns and hid in the exam rooms until we each had a whole IV bag run in through our system. Believe me, it was the only thing that really helped."

"And how, pray tell, did you guys not get caught?"

"Simple." He grinned. "Either Edward or me, whoever was keeping guard at the door, as inconspicuously as we could, I might add, just deflected anyone heading to the exam room by telling them that there was a patient inside with severe diarrhea and vomiting and that it was a war zone in there. Believe me, they steered clear. Nobody wanted to face something like that if they hadn't needed to."

"You mean to tell me they bought the excuse every time?" Bella was amazed at their efforts to get rid of a hangover.

"Well, no. We switched it up sometimes with a different excuse. We got really creative and very graphic. We found that the more details we added, the better it worked."

"I bet." She chuckled.

"So you seem to be feeling a lot better than you were earlier. Edward told me to talk to you; try and find out what happened today at work. Wanna talk about it now?"

And there went her mood... Why did he have to bring it up now? When she'd finally pushed it from her mind.

"No." She snapped and regretted it instantly. "Sorry. But like I said, it was just a bad day and I really want to forget about it."

"I get it, Bella. We all have those days and I didn't mean to push you. I was just worried."

"Thank you, Embry. I appreciate the concern. But I'll be just fine. I promise." Bella plastered on a fake smile to mollify Embry and searched her brain for some way to change the subject. "So you and Edward went to the same University?"

"Yeah. Stanford." He tipped a bottle of bud light to his lips. "We'd always said that we'd go to the same school. And when we both got accepted to Stanford, it was the perfect opportunity."

"So how long have the two of you been friends?" Bella wondered. "It's kind of weird to imagine how you two became best buds in the first place. You seem so different."

"I guess we are. Of the two of us, he's the more serious one. Which I'm sure you've noticed." He peeled the soft shell from a large, juicy prawn and popped it into his mouth, licking his fingers.

"Oh?" Bella mocked. "Really? Edward, serious?"

"Funny." Embry narrowed his eyes at her but failed to suppress a grin. "I'm the easy going one. And we somehow seem to balance each other out, you know." Bella could see now what Rosalie meant by "quite the bromance". They were like a couple. Opposites attract and all that. "But to answer your question, when I was six, Edward and his family moved in next door. I invited him over to play one day and the rest is history. We've been inseparable ever since. We played football together, took first aid classes together. We were even on the debate team together. Not that it was my cup of tea, exactly, but Edward made me do it. And I guess all the extracurricular activities benefited us in the end."

"You. On the debate team? I can hardly imagine it." She giggled.

"Are you making fun of me?" He teased, feigning hurt.

"Nope. Not at all." Bella defended. "You just don't strike me as a dork."

"Oh, I'm a big time dork. The worst. I still play Xbox and read comic books."

"God!" Bella groaned. "At your age?"

"Hey, hey. Watch it." He pointed playfully at her. "I'm not that old."

"Please, you're a grandpa compared to me." She quipped.

"How old are you, Bella?"

"Twenty-six. Why?"

"See. I'm thirty one. Definitely not a grandpa by any means."

"Well, what about that gray hair you've got there?" Bella gestured to his head.

"I don't have gray hair anywhere. I check regularly." He assured her confidently.

"You obviously missed a spot, then." Bella pointed out, gesturing to the back of his head and stifled a yawn. She swallowed her last mouthful of red wine, ready to get to bed. It was already close to ten.

"I should get the check. You're tired and need to get to bed, Nurse Swan. I will not take the blame for you being dead on your feet, tomorrow. Or face the wrath of Edward Cullen - because I allowed you little time to rest."

* * *

Bella woke at just after two a.m. to severe stomach pain and groaned as she sat up. Her pajamas were plastered to her skin, and she shivered, pulling the sheets up to her shoulders.

Could she have eaten a bad batch of seafood last night? It was the only thing that made sense. That or she had a stomach bug.

Her stomach heaved violently, forcing her out of bed with her hand clasped over her mouth as she hurried to the toilet as fast as her feet would allow.

She reached the toilet just in time, retching the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl. The more her body heaved and contracted, the worse the pain in her stomach felt. This was the last thing she wanted right now. If this kept up, it was going to be a long day at work. Stomach bug or not, she was determined to go to work in the morning, or rather, in a couple of hours. She didn't take a sick day unless she was close to dying.

 **A/N: I'm dying to hear your thoughts. Hope you enjoyed the chapter? Once again, thank you to EdwardsFirstKiss.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh boy. I see that Bella is definitely not very popular with you guys at the moment. Let's hope she can redeem herself in this chapter. Thank you to all who reviewed. Please enjoy the next chapter. And thank you to my awesome Beta EdwardsFirstKiss for helping with the detail, answering endless questions and doing a fantastic job editing my mess. For some reason, Unsteady by X Ambassadors popped into my head while writing this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer:** Twilight and all it's recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Chapter 5: Fix**

Bella couldn't help but think that the pain she was experiencing, right now was somehow due to the fact that she had kept her stupid mouth shut about what happened yesterday. She should have told Edward the truth straight away, even if it meant she would die. She was a coward and if Mr. Brown died, she would have to carry the guilt of her choices with her for the rest of her life. She knew she couldn't keep it a secret anymore, and she was going to tell Edward today; to hell with the consequences.

Bella was busy plastering copious amounts of make-up onto her very pale face in an attempt to look better than she felt. From her reflection in the mirror, it was obvious that it didn't help much, but at least she didn't look like she was going to drop dead at any second.

Her stomach pain was even worse this morning. She had really hoped the pain would subside after a few more hours of sleep. She was severely disappointed that she was going to have to drag herself through today, just so she could head straight back to bed tonight.

Bella pulled on a jacket in an attempt to warm her freezing body. She definitely had a fever, but it was still no clearer to her what the cause for her stomach ache and vomiting was. The nausea had stopped, at least. For now.

Bella had made the conscious decision to pull Edward aside after rounds, to tell him what had happened yesterday. It was better for him to first see his patients and then alert the authorities - if that's what he was planning on doing.

Bella wiped the sweat from her brow and rolled up the sleeves of the shirt she had put on under her scrubs. She wasn't feeling well at all now and she could barely manage to stand up straight. So instead of folding in on herself, she rested her forearms on the over bed table to hide her pain from Edward. She pulled a deep breath in through her nose to steel herself against the pain. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to hold out.

Suddenly, she was aware of Edward's warm hand grabbing hers and excusing them from the room.

"What's going on with you today, Nurse Swan?" Edward hissed in her ear. "Haven't I told you before that when Dr. Call and you go out on a date, it is your responsibility to make sure that you are well rested for the next day?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor." Bella said, grabbing onto his shoulder for support as her head started spinning. "I don't feel so well." Her knees buckled and her vision went blurry, faintly registering Edward's shocked voice call out to her.

* * *

Bella woke up to the sight of Edward, sitting in a visitor's chair next to her bed, brows knit together in concern as those intense green eyes landed on hers.

"Hey." He gave her a weak smile. "You're awake."

"What happened?" She looked around. Blue curtains were pulled shut around her bed. A blood pressure cuff clung to her upper arm, and an IV was plastered to her left hand. Was she in the Emergency room?

"You fainted during rounds." Those turbulent green eyes of Edward's threatened to drown her.

"I did?" She remembered not feeling well during rounds, but fainting? She had no recollection of that.

"Yeah. The E.R. doctor wants to speak to you. She already took some basic blood work, and she needs to find out what's wrong with you."

"I have had the worst stomach ache since two o'clock this morning. I don't know if it's something I ate?"

"Wait! Let me just get Dr. Eckley. I want you to tell her everything."

Bella nodded.

Edward disappeared behind the curtains for a minute and Bella could hear the rushed whispers between him and another woman. A moment later, the curtains were drawn back sharply, startling Bella.

"Hi, Bella. I'm Dr. Eckley." A tall, middle-aged woman with a long bob of black hair introduced herself.

"Hi, Doctor." Bella greeted back weakly.

"So, Dr. Cullen tells me you're complaining of abdominal pain. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Doctor."

Dr. Eckley drew the curtains closed behind her and asked Edward to excuse the two of them for a minute while she examined Bella.

"Tell me where it hurts, okay?" She requested, her cool fingers pushing Bella's scrubs up over her stomach and began to carefully palpate her abdomen. The further down the doctor's fingers traveled, the more it hurt. A cry forced its way out over Bella's lips as the doctor pushed down on a particularly tender part on the right side of her lower abdomen and released swiftly. Bella's eyes flicked up, meeting Dr. Eckley's - They both knew exactly what the most likely cause was; appendicitis. It all made sense. The vomiting, fever, nausea and pain were textbook responses to the doctor's test for rebound tenderness. How could she have been such an idiot?

"Let's get you up to x-ray so we can confirm with a CAT scan that it is, in fact, appendicitis." The doctor pulled down Bella's scrubs and yanked open the curtain, "Any chance of you being pregnant, Bella?" It was an innocent and standard question before any scan, but it still managed to make her blush.

Bella and Edward's eyes locked at the doctor's question. She knew what he was probably thinking. After all, hadn't he accused her of being tired at work due to Embry's and her so called sexcapades?

"None at all," She shook her head, maintaining eye contact with Edward, almost as if she were trying to convince him, rather than Dr. Eckley.

An orderly pushing a wheelchair, arrived soon after and Edward helped Bella ease off the gurney and into the chair. She was uncomfortable and suppressed a groan. Hopefully she'd have answers soon so Dr. Eckley could fix her up and send her on her merry way.

Edward followed right behind Bella as she was wheeled to the x-ray department.

The orderly took a sudden, sharp turn down a busier corridor, sending a sharp, shooting pain through Bella's abdomen and forcing a groan over her lips.

Edward gave the man such a cowering stare (worse than he's ever fixed her with), that Bella almost felt sorry for the poor guy.

The orderly steered them deftly through the bustling corridor where staff scurried around in a rush to complete their tasks. That should have been her, right now; working. Not on her way for a CAT scan.

Bella counted the teal squares on the beige, vinyl floors as they disappeared one by one under the wheelchair, chewing on her cheek while she contemplated how to break the news about Mr. Brown to Edward. She had wasted enough time, thanks to her lack of courage and she needed to tell him before it was too late.

Bella pulled a steadying breath in through her nose. This was it. "Dr. Cullen?" She called for him.

"Right here," He said, popping up next to her into a brisk stride to keep up.

"I don't know what's gonna happen after the scan, so I really need to tell you something."

"I'm listening." He encouraged with a nod of the head.

"Just-" She sighed into her hands, gathering up all her courage. "Please don't yell at me?" She begged.

"Why would I yell at you?" He frowned, brows puckering on that handsome face of his.

Bella suppressed what would have been a very unladylike snort. How could he ask her such a question? Apparently he needed no reason or provocation of any kind from her to yell at her.

"Mrs. Brown is poisoning her husband." She looked up at him and watched as his eyes widened for a moment. She tore her own eyes away from him for a second as they entered through the double doors of the x-ray department and came to a stop at reception.

"CAT scan for Miss Swan." The orderly announced to the sour looking receptionist. She nodded and cocked her head toward a set of swinging double doors that led to the scan rooms.

"You think? Or you know?" Edward continued, demanding her attention as he followed.

"I know." Bella said confidently. "I overheard them in the room, saying something about "...the final blow to his kidneys..." and then I saw her mix a pink powder with his water."

"Jesus Christ!" He exclaimed slack-jawed and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he looked back at her, his eyes were narrowed in fury. "Why did you not say anything to me yesterday? What were you thinking keeping quiet about something like this?"

"I don't know, okay! I was upset; scared." She defended, knowing deep down that he was right. She smiled weakly up at a friendly looking, dark-haired nurse as the orderly parked Bella in front of a large, doughnut-shaped machine.

The nurse helped Bella out of her chair and dismissed the orderly. "Just carefully get onto the table here." She cautioned and hooked her arm under one of Bella's armpits, helping her onto the cool gray table. The excuse of a mattress squeaked as she shuffled down and lowered herself onto her back with a wince.

Bella looked nervously to the nurse before she continued. "The son threatened to kill me." Bella whispered gravely.

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" He practically growled and had the decency of apologizing to the startled nurse for cursing - and focused his furious gaze back on Bella.

"He grabbed me in a choke hold and threatened to slit my throat if I said a word to anyone."

"Fuck!" He sighed heavily and dragged a hand through his unruly copper hair. "I gotta go."

"Yeah; you do." Bella nodded furiously. "I'm really sorry for keeping it from you; for being a coward."

"Don't worry about it anymore." He said. "I'll handle it. And I promise I won't let anything happen to you." He lowered his head and planted an unexpected but gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll come see you later."

Bella blushed. What was going through the poor nurse's mind at their open display of affection? And what was going on with Edward, for that matter? He's never been this nice to her before. _He normally yells at me and now he just kissed my forehead_.

"So just hold very still." The nurse said. "This won't take long."

Bella nodded.

"I'm going to be right behind that window." The nurse pointed to the glass partitioning. "So if you need me, just let me know."

Bella looked around at the stark walls and hi-tech equipment, wondering what was going down right this moment on the ward. Had Edward confronted Mrs. Brown and her son yet? Was Mr. Brown still alive? Had Edward called the cops?

Bella had still not heard a word from Edward as she was heading into surgery. The CAT scan confirmed appendicitis and without delay, she was prepped and given a consent form to sign. She had traded her scrubs for a hospital gown. She was now a patient and no longer a nurse.

Where was Embry? She would have thought that he'd at least come say good luck, offer some words of comfort. It stung for a moment to think that he probably didn't care enough to just take a second to come see her, but then again, she knew how busy he was. He would probably have come if he had a moment to spare.

Bella was greeted by unfriendly, wooden faces as she entered the operating room, none of them smiling to at least comfort her. The muted sound of surgeons furiously scrubbing their hands made Bella wish she'd gone to the bathroom at least once more when she'd had the chance. What if she peed herself on the operating table during surgery? She huffed. That _would_ be her luck, wouldn't it?

Three EKG leads were connected to her chest, yellow, red and green. A rubber saturation probe was roughly sheathed over her finger and a machine started beeping in the background, keeping time to the rhythm of her heart beat. A tube was connected to her IV and the phlegmatic anesthesiologist injected a white substance into the IV tube - that flowed slowly in through he cannula and disappeared into her hand. She turned her head away, staring up at the bright, round surgical lights that hovered high above her head, waiting to drift off as an unknown hand placed an oxygen mask on her face. And the last thing that went through her mind was that she really wished Edward could have been here with her.

* * *

Bella woke up feeling groggy and disoriented. It took a moment to realize where she was and why.

She turned her head to the side and found Embry busy on his laptop. He looked up at her movement and smiled. "Welcome back, sleepy head. How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty." She said, her voice coming out scratchy. She cleared her throat. "And my stomach still hurts."

Embry put his laptop down at her feet and headed over to her bedside table.

"Only clear fluids in small amounts, for now." He informed her as he filled a glass with water. "Doctor's orders." He said and pointed to a sign over her bed.

Bella turned to look up, but winced at the movement. "Oh."

Embry handed the glass to her and excused himself to ask one of the nurses if they could bring more pain medication.

He returned shortly with a nurse following short on his heels.

"Thank you." Bella flashed Embry a small smile as he returned to his seat. "So," she tried to sound casual, "Where is Dr. Cullen?" Bella didn't know if Edward had told Embry about the 'Mr. Brown' incident, so she tried to fish for information as cryptically as she could.

"There you go." The blond nurse flashed Bella a smile. "You'll feel better soon." She assured Bella as she administered the pain medication through an ancillary port off the main IV line.

"Thank you." Bella responded and turned back to Embry.

"Edward took the rest of the day off. He said he had some urgent business to attend to." Embry continued with their conversation.

"Did he say why?" Bella pressed on, anxious to know what Edward had accomplished so far, regarding Mr. Brown and his family.

Embry frowned. She should probably dial it down with all her questions - before she raised too much suspicion with Embry.

"No. He didn't say, and I didn't ask."

"How was your day?" Bella changed the subject.

"Crazy. He rubbed his face and blew out a harsh breath. "Sorry I didn't come to see you before your surgery, but one of my patients went into V-fib. We resuscitated for over an hour before I finally gave up. My patient didn't make it and his wife didn't take the news very well."

"Don't worry about it." Bella waved his apology away. "I suspected that you were probably very busy."

"Hi." Edward popped his head in the door, looking very tired. "I heard your surgery went really well."

"I guess so." Bella shrugged. "I haven't seen the surgeon yet."

"Dr. Hernandez said he would talk to you tomorrow morning about the surgery and his findings. He's still got a long list of surgeries scheduled and he'll finish late."

Bella nodded. At this point she really didn't give a damn about what the surgeon found. She wanted to know what happened concerning Mr. Brown.

"I'm gonna head out and leave the two of you to talk." Embry said and shut his laptop. "I'm beat and I need a good night's rest." He bent over Bella, gave her a quick peck on the lips and squeezed her hand. "Be good and don't give the nurses too much grief." He winked and turned to Edward, slapping him on the back once. "See you tomorrow, man. And don't keep my girl up too late. She needs her rest."

Edward nodded. "I won't." He smiled at his friend, but the smile didn't quite reach those intense green eyes of his.

Edward took a seat in the chair previously occupied by Embry and leaned back with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling as if praying for strength.

"What happened?" Bella asked in a low whisper. His body language told Bella that things didn't go as well as they had hoped.

"I notified the head of your department, as well as the police. They're gonna drop by tomorrow to get a statement from you."

"Oh god." Bella groaned. "What did Mrs. Rogers say? About me not immediately reporting the incident?"

"Well, she was pissed off, and rightly so. But she assured me that she's gonna let you off with a warning. She understands why you did it, but she was adamant that there still has to be repercussions for your actions; hence, the warning." He cocked his head and observed her for a moment before he spoke again. "I really tried to keep you out of it as much as I could, but in the end I had to tell the truth. Lies just have a way of catching up with you and if the truth came out later, it would make things much worse."

"It's fine, Edward." Bella lay back against the pillows. "I got myself into this mess in the first place and now I've got to take responsibility for my actions. And I guess getting off with a warning is the best outcome I could have hoped for."

Edward nodded and chewed on his cheek.

She was grateful for his help. He took over completely and the situation was under control. She supposed he did a better job of it than she would have.

"The police tracked Mrs. Brown down on her way out of town." Edward revealed. "Apparently she was a cancer survivor and used some of the Xeloda she still had lying around from her last round of chemo, to poison her husband. Those chemo drugs are really heavy on the kidneys and she thought it would help speed up the process of wiping out his already failing kidneys and send him to an early death."

"Why would she do something like that?"

"She told the police that they'd been left with so many medical bills to pay after her treatment that she wanted to use Mr. Brown's life insurance money to pay off their debt." Edward explained matter-of-factly.

"Jesus." Bella sighed. She really didn't expect that. "I almost feel sorry for her." She said, "Almost."

Edward pursed his lips. "Still doesn't excuse what she did."

"What happened to the son?" Bella was dying to know if he had been taken into custody as well.

Edward's expression turned severe at her question.

"What?" Bella practically yelled. His reaction was making her worried.

"He got away, Bella." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Mrs. Brown refuses to tell the police where he's hiding out."

"Shit!" Bella cursed. "That bastard is going to come for me now. I just know it!"

 **A/N: Let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi guys. Sorry I took so long with this chapter. I'm starting work again tomorrow, so then I'll probably only update weekly. I apologize to all those who've reviewed but didn't get a reply. For some reason I get the reviews on my email, but it doesn't show up on my account. Not sure why.**

 **But thank you to everyone who took the time to review. I appreciate it very much.**

 **And of course, thank you to EdwardsFirstKiss, my wonderful beta! I'd be lost without you!**

 **I really hope you like this chapter...I loved writing it.**

 **Disclaimer:** Twilight and all it's recognizable characters belong to the brilliant Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Chapter 6 - Hidden**

Dr. Hernandez came to see Bella early Friday morning, checking her drains and listening for bowel sounds. He made sure that Bella was pain-free and comfortable, still keeping her on a liquid diet for now.

Giving a statement to the police was daunting, to say the least. Bella had felt intimidated; guilty. She had told them everything she'd heard and seen on Wednesday, in as much detail possible. She even described what Mr. Brown's son, James looked like and what he'd said and done to her.

Rosalie and Alice popped in during the day to bring her flowers, a get well card and lots of hugs.

Bella deeply appreciated the fact that they'd come to the hospital to visit her on their day off. They were true friends who were concerned about her.

When Mrs. Rogers arrived, joining the three of them, Rosalie and Alice had subtly excused themselves and waved good bye as they left.

"How are you feeling, Bella?" Mrs. Rogers asked, taking a seat and picked at a piece of lint on her skirt, before lifting her head to appraise Bella with her keen minty green eyes.

Bella shifted uncomfortably in her bed, feeling unnerved at the unexpected visit of their department head. She gave the red-head a tight-lipped smile. "Much better than I did yesterday, Ma'am."

"Are they giving you enough pain medication?" Mrs. Rogers' eyes crinkled at the sides, softening her face, while Bella wished that she would just cut to the chase; reprimand her for her actions of Wednesday.

"More than enough." Bella nodded vigorously. "I'm starting to feel like a zombie."

"Good. That's very good." She said absently, folding her hands in her lap. "So. Dr. Cullen told me about the incident from Wednesday." Her expression darkened briefly, speaking of concern, before she hastily reined it in and hid it behind a soft, motherly smile, reaching for Bella's hand in a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that. And if you need to talk to someone about what happened, just let me know."

"Bella wasn't sure how to respond to Mrs. Rogers' offer. She didn't deserve the kindness; so instead, she nodded and chose to apologize. "I'm sorry that I didn't come forward with the information immediately. I was a coward and I put my patient's life in danger, because I selfishly put my own needs above those of my patient." Bella sighed heavily. "I just hope that this doesn't erase your confidence in me."

"Don't worry about that right now, Bella." Mrs. Rogers patted Bella's leg. "We can discuss it when you're back at work. For now, all I want you to focus on is getting better."

"Yes Ma'am." Bella wished that they could have sorted things out right now, instead of leaving it hanging. It made her anxious.

"Are you on that god-awful liquid diet?" She asked Bella, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Bella chuckled. "Yes, I am. The clear soup is the worst though. And if I never see Jell-O again in my life, it will be too soon."

"It's not for long." Mrs. Rogers winked. "Soon you'll be all better and eating normally again." The older woman stood from her chair. "I'm going to leave you to get your rest. Let me know if there is anything that you need, Bella."

"Thank you." Bella honestly didn't think she deserved Mrs. Rogers' kindness, and it made her feel even worse. She had disappointed the Department Head with her cowardly actions.

Edward hadn't been by at all, today and Bella missed him for some reason. She knew how wrong it was. She should have been missing Embry and wishing that he'd come by to visit her, but all she could think about was Edward's burning lips and those stormy green eyes that made her stomach knot up and her blood dance deliciously.

She was in way over her head and Edward had probably just been doing his job, not considering that he'd make Bella's body light up with just one stupid kiss. He'd simply done what he supposed was the right thing to do - he couldn't very well have left her lying on the floor, in the middle of the hall, could he?

Bella traced an idle finger over her forehead and she swore she could still feel his gentle lips there.

She would trade a thousand of Embry's kisses for just one more from Edward.

* * *

Bella was sitting on her bed on Sunday morning, waiting for Embry. He had finally made an appearance on Friday evening after work, and then again on Saturday. He was on call for the weekend and apparently it had been very busy.

Dr. Hernandez had discharged Bella this morning with strict instructions to take it easy at home and encouraged her to take her pain medication and Colace as prescribed. He'd been happy that there were sufficient bowel sounds which had made Bella blush furiously when he'd asked her if she'd passed gas yet.

"Hi." Bella looked up to find Edward standing awkwardly in the door to her room. It was strange to see him look so unsure of himself. He was normally so undeniably confident and intimidating.

"Everything okay?" Bella asked, appraising him carefully as he entered the room.

"Yes." He frowned. "Why?"

"I just assumed that you had bad news about Mr. Brown's son."

"No." He shook his head and leaned against the foot of the bed, keeping his eyes on her.

"So, then why are you here, Dr. Cullen?" She wondered. If it wasn't bad news, then what was it?

Edward frowned. "Embry didn't tell you that he got tied up with a patient?

"No, he didn't." Bella shook her head.

"He asked me to take you home."

"Oh." Bella murmured. She probably should have felt disappointed at the news, but instead she found her heart kicking into overdrive at the thought of Edward driving her home; of being alone with him in the truck. "I can call a cab, you know. You don't have to drive me, Doctor." Bella was trying to offer him a way out of this awkward situation.

* * *

 **EPOV**

 _No. Don't call a cab. I want to be the one to drive you home; spend some time with you; even if it's just for a few minutes._ "Don't worry about it." He said, trying his best to sound detached; to not show his true feelings.

"But it's your weekend off, Doctor. And it's Sunday. You should be sleeping in, not driving me home."

 _Does she not want to be alone with me?_

Bella was trying awfully hard to persuade him to let her take a cab. "Do you want a ride or not?" He snapped. What was his deal with her? Why did he let her affect him so much? He had to physically remind himself that she was Embry's girlfriend every time he had the urge to come see her in the hospital. He was in way too deep where Bella was concerned and it was disconcerting to say the least. He wished he'd been brave enough to kiss her on the lips, instead of on her forehead, when he'd had the chance.

"Yes, please." Her face fell at his curt tone. He needed to stop doing that. He always managed to hurt her with his words.

"What about my truck?" Bella wondered as he helped her into his truck.

"Embry and I will drop it off later." He closed her door and walked around his truck, throwing Bella's bag into the back. He wondered who Bella had asked to bring her an overnight bag with clothes and toiletries. Embry? Or maybe one of her friends? He wasn't going to ask though. It had nothing to do with him.

"Do you have a security system at home?" He asked eyes trained carefully in front of him as he maneuvered them easily out of the hospital parking lot.

"No, I don't." She looked up at him. "Take a left here." She indicated to him with her hand.

"Well, you should seriously consider getting one installed." He suggested; especially now that the threat to her life was real.

"Hmm." She agreed, staring out of the window, lost in thought. He wished he knew what she was thinking. Was she worried about her safety as much as he was?

"You know you can call me day or night if you're scared or in trouble, right?"

"Thank you." She smiled tightly. "But you don't have to protect me, you know."

"You have Embry for that. I get it." Why did he sound so bitter about it? Perhaps it was because of the fact that he wanted to be the one to protect her; be there for her. It had been a long time since he had felt this way; cared.

"That's not what I meant." She captured his gaze with those warm chocolate eyes, frowning. "I just don't want to burden you with the consequences of my mistakes. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

"Like it or not, Bella, we're in this together, now." He was involved in this mess and there was no way that he was going to sit by and wait for James to come for Bella. "I made you a promise."

"Turn right at the stop sign." She turned her head back to him. "It's not like I'm planning to hold you to it. We were both just overwhelmed by the situation."

"I don't make promises I don't intend to keep." And in this case, he had truly meant it.

"You can pull up right here." Bella pointed to a white, two story house.

He turned into the driveway and cut the engine. "I'll help you get out."

Bella tried to protest, but he ignored her and offered her his hand, helping her carefully out of her seat and onto the ground.

"I'll bring your bag. Go unlock the front door."

"Can I offer you some coffee, Doctor?" Bella asked as he put her bag down on a couch in the living room.

"Edward." He corrected her. He wanted so badly to hear his name come from her lips. He was curious to know how it would sound.

Bella ignored his request and held up a mug, arching a questioning brow at him.

"Sure." He accepted and rounded the kitchen counter to help, scooting in next to her.

"Cream and sugar?" She turned to face him, standing really close. So close, in fact, that he could see the flecks of gold in her eyes that he'd never noticed before now.

He lifted his hand and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek and dropped his hand.

Bella's eyes closed at the contact, sighing softly. He wanted to kiss her again, so badly; but on the lips, this time. He knew he shouldn't, but the urge was simply too overwhelming. Bella's eyes fluttered open, dark mahogany engulfed him in their warmth, the raw emotion in them expelling any remaining apprehension he had.

His mouth lowered slowly to hers, keeping his eyes locked with hers - completely prepared to pull away at the first sign of discomfort.

Warmth seeped through him as his lips met hers and found no hesitation in Bella's response as her arms snaked very slowly over his shoulders to circle around the back of his neck. His blood heated and ignited in passion as he stroked his tongue over her lips in a desperate plea for entrance. Bella's lips parted, granting him access and surprised him with a needy tongue that met his boldly, spurring him on. He had wanted to do this since the day he'd met her for the first time.

Edward's hands gripped her hips and lifted her onto the kitchen counter, nudging her hips open to stand in between her thighs.

"Oh god." He groaned against her lips, panting. "You taste so fucking good."

Bella's lips trailed a heated path along his jaw, tongue tracing his stubbly skin until she reached the base of his jaw, nipping gently at the skin.

His eyes rolled back and his hands grazed up from her hips, careful as they traveled over her stomach, toward his target - her breasts. He palmed each swell in a needy hand, kneading as her lips broke free from their task of tasting him, to let out a low moan of approval.

He was throbbing for her and he dropped his hand to his crotch to adjust himself. His erection was straining painfully against the fly of his pants.

Bella noticed, hands dropping lower down his back and pulling him into her.

...and he lost it.

Trembling hands found her tank top, fisting the white material in both hands and yanking hard, tearing it in half to reveal a luscious pair of creamy breasts, covered in white lace bra cups. "So fucking beautiful." He whispered and pulled the thin material down to allow those perfect swells to spill over the cups. Rosy pink buds, taut from need and touch, beckoned his lips to taste and tease.

"Edward!" She whimpered as his lips made contact, first with the one nipple and then with the other. The way his name sounded on her tongue, spoken with a kind of reverence, sent a shiver down his spine.

Small hands found the buckle at his waist, fumbling desperately to free him. One task down, her fingers moved on to his button, popping it open with ease. So slowly that he felt he would die with anticipation, she dragged his zipper down over the tiny metal links and freed him of his throbbing manhood.

Bella pushed his jeans down over his hips with shaking hands and he kicked them off as they dropped to his feet.

With one arm tucked around Bella's ribs, he lifted her off the counter and worked her yoga pants from her hips with a gentle hand, while hungry lips swallowed her pleased sighs. His fingers grazed against her silky thighs as he pushed her pants down, letting them drop to the floor and pool in a black heap at his feet.

Bella released his lips and fisted the hem of his shirt in her hands, making quick work of divesting him of the material.

He stroked a finger over her heated, lace-covered mound and watched as a cry fell from over her parted lips. "Sorry." She blushed.

"Don't be. You're fucking perfect." He growled and slipped his finger past her panties and into her wetness. She was so unbelievably tight.

Bella gasped at the sudden intrusion and gripped him tightly to her, burrowing her face into his shoulder.

The shrill ring of his phone cut through the cloud of lust between them, forcing them apart.

Edward bent down, fishing his phone from the pocket of his jeans. Embry's name flashed on the screen.

"Jesus." He groaned. Perfect timing. He raked a hand through his hair in frustration and watched as his friend's name disappeared from the screen to be replaced by a missed call notification.

What the hell had he been thinking? If Embry hadn't called, would the two of them have stopped? Or would they have ended up having sex, right here on Bella's kitchen counter?

"I'm sorry, Bella." He said in a clipped tone, pulling in a deep breath to slow his heart rate. "I shouldn't have done that. Embry is my best friend, for Christ sake. I can't betray him like this." He pulled his shirt over his head and shrugged on his pants, yanking the zipper up sharply. "You're his girlfriend."

"I know." Bella's voice came out muffled and he looked up to find her sitting with her face buried in her hands, naked chest heaving. Her torn tank top hung loosely from her shoulders and she gripped the material tightly, stretching it over her exposed breasts to cover herself up. She licked her lips and cleared her throat, looking up at him. "I shouldn't have kissed you back. This is just as much my fault as it is yours."

"Let's just forget that it ever happened." He turned away, leaving her sitting on the counter without another word, and walked out of her house. He gritted his teeth as he tried to push down the ache in his chest. Despite what he'd just told Bella, he knew he would never able to forget about what had just happened between them.

He wanted Bella. It was as simple as that. But she was Embry's and there was nothing he could do about it.

* * *

 **BPOV**

Bella lay in her bed that night, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. How could she have done _that_ to Embry, despite her dwindling feelings for him? The worst part was that she had completely lost herself in Edward, reveling in the feeling of his hands on her; his lips. He had lit her body on fire; driven her crazy. She had never experienced passion quite like she had this morning with him.

She didn't know what to make of this whole situation. It wasn't like he'd come out and said that he had feelings for her and that he wanted her to leave Embry, but she knew, whether Edward wanted her or not, that she couldn't continue her relationship with Embry. It wasn't fair to him.

Maybe she should talk to Alice and Rosalie about it. She knew (or hoped) that they wouldn't judge her for what had happened. And just maybe, they would have advice for her so she could sort through her confusion.

Today had irrevocably changed things between Edward and her. She would never be able to work alongside him and not think about the way his lips and hands had touched her; made her ache for him. But the bigger question was - would he be able to look at her without thinking the same thing? She hoped to god that he would.

 **A/N: Liked the Edward & Bella interaction? Yes? No? And what did you think of EPOV?**


End file.
